Stuffed Animal Lunch Box

ABSTRACT

A lunchbox provides an outer plush surface depicting an animal and receiving lunch items through a closable opening to be held within a thermally insulating compartment within the plush surface.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims the benefit of U.S. provisional application 62/615,764 filed Jan. 10, 2018, and U.S. provisional application 62/652,417 filed Apr. 4, 2018, both hereby incorporated in their entirety by reference.

STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT

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BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to food storage and transportation containers, and in particular, to a lunchbox having features of a stuffed animal.

Lunchboxes are standard accessories for school-age children and are intended to provide a container for transporting and storing food. A typical lunchbox provides a rectangular box of stiff plastic or metal with a hinged lid held by a clasp and the box is often decorated with popular characters or motives that may be enjoyed by young children. Such lunchboxes provide relatively little insulation for refrigerated or heated items and can be difficult to open. The construction of the hinging and clasp is such as to risk inadvertent opening of the lunchbox and spilling of the lunch contents out onto the ground.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides an improved lunchbox implementing many of the features of a stuffed animal to provide for an attractive container for young children while avoiding conventional rigid box construction. The lunchbox may provide a pouch which naturally opens upward eliminating a hinged double door which can spill contents onto the ground while the stuffed plush material provides natural insulation.

These particular objects and advantages may apply to only some embodiments falling within the claims and thus do not define the scope of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a front elevational view of a lunchbox constructed according to at least one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a cross-section taken along line 2-2 of FIG. 1 showing the internal construction of the lunchbox;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary detail of an upper opening in the lunchbox that may be closed using a hook and loop fastener and showing an upwardly extending handle; and

FIG. 4 is a figure similar to FIG. 3 showing a method of stowing the handle within the lunchbox volume.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

The present invention provides a soft lunch box 10 readily adaptable to have the outward appearance of an animal or other character such as is cartoon character, person, or the like.

Referring now to FIG. 1, when the lunch box 10 is closed the outer surface may conform to that of a stuffed animal or other similar character, for example, providing facial features 12 sewn or adhered to a flexible fabric body 14 to be visible from a front surface thereof. Two or more appendages depicting legs or the like may extend downwardly attached to a lower surface of the body and flaps of material providing ears may extend outwardly attached to the upper portion of the body.

Preferably the fabric body 14 is a plush or artificial fur material having outwardly extending multiple outer hairs 16 that form an entrapped layer of air for improved insulation of the lunch box contents.

Referring now to FIG. 2 (being a cross section taken along line 2-2 of FIG. 1), the fabric body 14 and the outer hairs 16 may be given form by a contained layer of batting or other insulation, for example, polyester batting layer 18. This batting layer 18 may extend over an inner fabric sleeve 20 forming an inner sack or pouch 22 having a bottom wall 24 surrounded by four upstanding sidewalls 26 and open at the top. Generally the thickness of the batting layer 18 varies to allow the outer shape of the lunch box 10 to differ from the internal volume of the pouch 22, the latter of which may be substantially rectangular and may be preserved in a relaxed state when the lunchbox is empty.

One or both of two opposed sidewalls extend upward to provide a handle 28 having a cutout 30 providing a space to receive fingers of the hand. Upper edges of the fabric body 14 may be attached to a lower portion of these handles 28 (in the case of two handles) or to one handle 28 with the other edge of the fabric body 14 attach to an upper edge of the opposing side wall 26 and openable to provide access to the pouch 22.

A zipper or hook and loop fastener strip 32 may be used (for example, placed on upper inner surfaces of the opposed sidewalls 26) to close the opening of the inner pouch 22 preventing spillage or loss of the lunch contents.

The sidewalls 26 and bottom wall 24 may be constructed of a water resistant or water impermeable material (machine washable) that retains flexibility and/or may be stiffened with a washable plastic batten or the like so that the entire lunch box can be easily inverted and cleaned and yet retain its shape. This water resistant or water impermeable material may include reflective elements such as a foil or metallic or metallized strands to reflect heat inward into the pouch 22 and outward away from the pouch 22 further improving the insulating qualities of the pouch 22. In one embodiment, the sidewalls 26 and bottom wall 24 maybe a flexible but shape retaining material such as a closed cell elastomeric foam that allows the lunch box 10 to maintain its shape (and representation, for example, of a furry animal or the like) regardless of whether there are materials in the pouch 22 while still providing softness to the lunch box 10.

Seams 38 between the bottom wall 24 and sidewalls 26 may also provide a stiffening of the inner compartment 22 allowing protection against crushing forces and the like. Other stiffener elements may include a contained plastic lunchbox or the like.

Referring now to FIGS. 3 and 4, the handle 28 may, for example, be an extension of the fabric material or foam material comprising the sidewalls 26 of the lunch box 10. When the handle 28 is in its extended form as shown in FIG. 3, a hook and loop fastener strip 32 on its inner surface may mate with a corresponding hook and loop fastener strip 32′ on an upper inner edge of the opposing side wall 26 to allow the pouch 22 to be closed. Alternatively, the handle 28 may be folded inward as shown in FIG. 4 down into the pouch 22 to allow the stuffed animal character to provide no visible handle 28. In this case, the folding process may expose a third hook and loop fastener strip 32″ allowing the pouch 22 to be closed over the handle 28 retained in the pouch 22. Alternatively, this strip 32 may be on an inner surface of the outer flexible body 14 which may attach to an opposite edge of the outer flexible body 14 using a similar strip 32 over the handle or handles 28. 

What I claim is:
 1. A lunch box comprising: a fabric pouch providing a plush outer surface with a closable opening on an upper side, the fabric pouch presenting outwardly visible facial features and at least two outwardly extending appendages attached to the fabric pouch; an insulating liner positioned on the inner surface of the fabric pouch and surrounding a volume sized to receive lunch items through the opening to be retained within the insulating liner when the opening is closed; and the fabric pouch providing a handle extending upwardly near the opening to support the volume pendant thereunder.
 2. The lunchbox of claim 1 wherein the facial features depict an animal.
 3. The lunchbox of claim 2 wherein the fabric pouch presents four outwardly extending appendages including the legs.
 4. The lunchbox of claim 2 further including the facial features of two eyes and a stuffed muzzle portion positioned at a front surface of the fabric pouch, the muzzle portion depicting a nose and mouth.
 5. The lunchbox of claim 2 wherein the opening is in an upper portion of a head of the animal as depicted.
 6. The lunchbox of claim 1 wherein the volume is retained by a stiffness of the lunchbox in the absence of contained lunch items.
 7. The lunchbox of claim 1 wherein the stiffness is provided by a shape retaining seam between a bottom wall and side wall of the insulating liner.
 8. The lunchbox of claim 1 further including a polyester batting material between the insulating liner and fabric pouch.
 9. The lunchbox of claim 1 wherein the insulating liner provides a metallized material for heat reflection.
 10. The lunchbox of claim 1 wherein the opening may be retained in a closed state by a hook and loop fastener.
 11. The lunchbox of claim 1 wherein the fabric pouch and insulating liner are water resistant materials. 